Sucrose-binding proteins

ABSTRACT

A cDNA encoding a plant sucrose-binding protein (SBP) is provided, together with modified SBPs having enhanced sucrose uptake activity in a yeast assay system. Nucleic acid vectors, transgenic cells and transgenic plants having modified sucrose uptake activity are also provided. The invention also relates to promoter sequences useful for controlling expression of transgenes in plants, including SBP transgenes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to carbohydrate metabolism in plants, and in particular to sucrose-binding proteins (SBPs). Aspects of the invention include a novel SBP gene isolated from soybean, and modified SBPs having enhanced sucrose uptake activity. Nucleic acid vectors, transgenic cells and transgenic plants having modified sucrose uptake activity are also provided. The invention also relates to promoter sequences useful for controlling expression of transgenes in plants, including SBP transgenes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The regulation of sucrose transport in plants has a major impact on plant growth and productivity. Through photosynthesis, plants fix atmospheric carbon dioxide into triose phosphates, which are then used to produce sucrose and other carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are then transported throughout the plant for use as energy sources, carbon skeletons for biosynthesis and storage for future growth needs. Sucrose is the major form of transported carbohydrate. The ability of plant cells actively to transport sucrose across the plasma membrane so that the sucrose that is mobilized in the phloem can be taken into cells for use is a critical step in sucrose utilization.

[0003] The development of plant seeds involves the accumulation of carbon and nitrogen reserves in forms that can both withstand desiccation and be utilized as an energy source by the developing embryo during germination. The accumulation of carbon in developing seeds is mediated by specific plasma membrane proteins (Overvoorde et al., 1996; Riesmeier et al., 1992; Bush, 1993). Photoaffinity labeling of membranes isolated from soybean cotyledon tissue with a photolyzable sucrose analog identified a distinct 62 kD sucrose-binding protein, or SBP (Ripp et al., 1988). Analysis of the cDNA encoding the SBP and its deduced amino acid sequence indicates that the SBP contains a single hydrophobic domain at its N-terminus but otherwise is a hydrophilic protein lacking the expected membrane-spanning hydrophobic segments typically present in transport proteins (Grimes et al., 1992). Biochemical analysis of the topology of the SBP demonstrates that it is tightly associated with the external leaflet of the plasma membrane (Overvorrde & Grimes, 1994). The involvement of the SBP in sucrose uptake was implicated by immunolocalization experiments demonstrating that the SBP is exclusively associated with the plasma membrane of cells involved in active sucrose uptake (Grimes et al., 1992). Kinetic analysis of SBPmediated sucrose uptake in a yeast system indicates that the uptake is specific for sucrose but is proton independent and relatively nonsaturable, thus defining a novel mechanism for sucrose uptake (Overvoorde et al., 1996).

[0004] Sucrose uptake in developing seeds affects two significant agricultural characteristics of the mature seed: the carbohydrate content of the resulting seed grain, and the vitality of the seedling that emerges when the seed grain is planted. Enhanced sucrose uptake activity in developing seeds may be desirable where it is an advantage to increase the carbohydrate content of the seed (e.g., where the seed is the primary plant material harvested, such as soybean). In contrast, decreased sucrose uptake activity in seeds might be desirable where the vegetative material of the plant is harvested. Thus, plants having modified sucrose uptake activity during seed development would be of significant agricultural importance, and it is to such plants that the present invention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention provides isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding plant sucrose binding proteins, which are key proteins in the uptake of sucrose into developing seeds. In one embodiment, the invention provides modified forms of sucrose binding proteins that are shown to have enhanced sucrose uptake activity.

[0006] The previously described sucrose binding protein from soybean (Overvoode et al., 1996) is herein referred to as SBP1. A new SBP is provided herein and is referred to as SBP2. The SBP2 polypeptide is shown to be 489 amino acid residues in length, and to be expressed at enhanced levels during seed development. The SBP2 polypeptide is shown to have sucrose uptake activity in a heterologous yeast assay system.

[0007] In addition, modified forms of the SBP1 and SBP2 proteins are provided having enhanced sucrose uptake activity. In one embodiment, such forms are deletion mutants in which amino acid residues are removed from the C-terminus of the proteins. By way of example, removal of 80 amino acid residues from the C-terminus of the SBP1 protein is shown to produce increased sucrose uptake in the yeast assay system.

[0008] The invention also provides 5′ regulatory regions (including promoter sequences) of the soybean SBP1 and SBP2 genes. These regulatory regions confer specific or enhanced expression in developing seeds and so may be used to express any transgene in developing seeds.

[0009] Thus, in one aspect, the invention provides a modified plant sucrose binding protein wherein the modified sucrose binding protein has a modified amino acid sequence compared to a corresponding wild-type sucrose binding protein, and wherein expression of the modified sucrose binding protein in a yeast assay system confers enhanced sucrose uptake compared to the corresponding wild-type sucrose binding protein. In particular embodiments, modified sucrose binding proteins provided by the invention enhance sucrose uptake in the yeast assay system by at least 10%, and preferably by at least 25%, compared to the wild-type sucrose binding protein. In certain embodiments, the modified plant sucrose binding proteins have a modified amino acid sequence comprising a C-terminal truncation compared to the wild-type sucrose binding protein. Such a truncation is typically of between about 10 and about 100 amino acids, and is preferably of about 80 amino acids. Although such modified SBPs may be produced from any known sucrose binding proteins, modified forms of SBP1 and SBP2 are exemplary of the invention. Modified forms of SBP1 and SBP2 include those forms having the amino acid sequences shown in Seq. I.D. Nos. 2 and 4, respectively.

[0010] In another aspect of the invention, nucleic acid molecules encoding modified plant sucrose binding proteins are provided, together with vectors comprising such nucleic acid molecules. The invention also provides transgenic plants expressing modified sucrose binding proteins. Such transgenic plants may have modified sucrose uptake activity, particularly in developing seeds.

[0011] In another aspect, the invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a SBP2 sucrose binding protein or a variant of a SBP2 protein. Such proteins may comprise an amino acid sequence as shown in Seq. I.D. Nos. 3 and 4, or sequences having at least 70% and preferably at least 90% sequence identity with these sequences. Recombinant expression cassettes comprising such nucleic acid molecules are also provided by the invention, as are transgenic plants comprising such recombinant expression cassettes.

[0012] Another aspect of the invention is a recombinant nucleic acid molecule comprising a promoter sequence operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence, wherein the promoter sequence comprises a SBP1 or SBP2 promoter. Such promoters preferably comprise at least 25 consecutive nucleotides of the 5′ regulatory sequences shown in Seq. I.D. Nos. 6 and 7. In particular embodiments, the nucleic acid sequence comprises a plant sucrose binding protein. Transgenic plants comprising such recombinant nucleic acid molecules are also an aspect of the invention.

[0013] These and other aspects of the invention are discussed in more detail in the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 shows an alignment of the SBP1 and SBP2 protein sequences.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a graph showing sucrose uptake activity in the yeast assay system.

SEQUENCE LISTING

[0016] The nucleic and amino acid sequences listed in the sequence listing are shown using standard single-letter abbreviations for nucleotide bases, and three-letter code for amino acids. Only one strand of each nucleic acid sequence is shown, but the complementary strand is understood to be included by any reference to the displayed strand.

[0017] Seq. I.D. No. 1 shows the amino acid sequence of the SBP1 protein.

[0018] Seq. I.D. No. 2 shows the amino acid sequence of the truncated SBP1 protein from which the C-terminus 80 amino acids are deleted.

[0019] Seq. I.D. No. 3 shows the amino acid sequence of the SBP2 protein.

[0020] Seq. I.D. No. 4 shows the amino acid sequence of the truncated SBP2 protein from which the C-terminus 80 amino acids are deleted.

[0021] Seq. I.D. No. 5 shows the SBP2 cDNA sequence.

[0022] Seq. I.D. No. 6 shows the SBP2 gene 5′ regulatory region.

[0023] Seq. I.D. No. 7 shows the SBP1 gene 5′ regulatory region.

[0024] Seq. I.D. Nos. 8-14 show oligonucleotides that may be used to amplify various regions of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] I. Methods

[0026] Standard molecular biology methods may be used to practice the present invention. Such methods are described in many publications, including Sambrook et al., (1989), Ausubel et al. (1994), Innis et al. (1990), Weissbach & Weissbach (1989), Tijssen (1993).

[0027] II. Definitions

[0028] Unless otherwise noted, technical terms are used according to conventional usage. Definitions of common terms in molecular biology may be found in Benjamin Lewin, Genes V published by Oxford University Press, 1994 (ISBN 0-19-854287-9); Kendrew et al (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology, published by Blackwell Science Ltd., 1994 (ISBN 0-632-02182-9); and Robert A. Meyers (ed.), Molecular Biology and Biotechnology: a Comprehensive Desk Reference, published by VCH Publishers, Inc., 1995 (ISBN 1-56081-569-8). The nomenclature for DNA bases as set forth at 37 CFR § 1.822 and the standard three letter codes for amino acid residues are used herein.

[0029] In order to facilitate review of the various embodiments of the invention, the following definitions of terms is provided:

[0030] Sucrose binding protein (SBP) SBPs are involved in sucrose uptake in plants. This activity can be conveniently determined and measured using the yeast sucrose uptake assay originally described by Overvoorde et al. (1996), which is also described in detail below; in this assay system, SBPs confer sucrose uptake ability on yeast cells that are otherwise unable to take up sucrose. Use of the term SBP refers generally to any sucrose binding protein, including the sucrose binding protein previously described by Grimes et al. (1992). This invention provides a cDNA encoding a previously unreported sucrose binding protein, the SBP2 protein from soybean (Glycine max). However the invention is not limited to this particular SBP: other nucleotide sequences which encode SBP enzymes are also part of the invention, including variants on the disclosed Glycine gene sequences and orthologous sequences from other plant species, the cloning of which is now enabled. Such sequences share the essential functional characteristic of encoding an enzyme that is capable of mediating sucrose uptake in the described yeast assay system. Nucleic acid sequences that encode SBPs and the proteins encoded by such nucleic acids share not only this functional characteristic, but also a specified level of sequence similarity (or sequence identity), as addressed below. The concept of sequence identity can also be expressed in the ability of two sequences to hybridize to each other under stringent conditions.

[0031] The present invention also provides modified SBPs having altered functional characteristics, as well as nucleic acid sequences encoding such proteins. An SBP isolated from an untransformed (wild-type) plant may be referred to as having a wild-type amino acid sequence. Modified SBPs have amino acid sequences that differ from the wild-type amino acid sequence. Such differences may take the form of amino acid deletions, additions, substitutions or truncations. A protein having amino acid deletions lacks one or more of the amino acid residues present in the wild-type sequence; such residues may be deleted from any portion of the protein. In contrast, a truncated protein is one in which one or more amino acids are deleted from the N and/or C terminus of the protein. Thus, truncated proteins are a sub-class of proteins having amino acid deletions.

[0032] Nucleic acid sequences encoding modified SBPs can readily be produced using standard methodologies, such as site directed mutagenesis and polymerase chain reaction amplification.

[0033] Sequence identity: the similarity between two nucleic acid sequences, or two amino acid sequences is expressed in terms of the similarity between the sequences, otherwise referred to as sequence identity. Sequence identity is frequently measured in terms of percentage identity (or similarity or homology); the higher the percentage, the more similar the two sequences are.

[0034] The calculation of percentage of sequence identity for amino acid sequences may take into account conservative amino acid substitutions. Conservative amino acid substitutions involve the replacement of one amino acid residue with another residue having similar chemical and biological properties (e.g., charge or hydrophobicity). Such substitutions typically do not change the functional properties of the protein, and should therefore be accounted for in the calculation of sequence identity by assigning a value that is in between values assigned for identity (i.e., no change at that amino acid position) and non-conservative residue changes. Thus, conservative amino acid changes are scored as a partial rather than a full mismatch, thereby increasing the percentage sequence identity. For example, if an identical amino acid is given a score of one and a non-conservative substitution is given a score of zero, a conservative substitution might be given a score of 0.5. The scoring of conservative substitutions is calculated, e.g., according to the algorithm of Meyers and Miller (1988) e.g., as implemented in the program PC/GENE (Intelligenetics, Mountain View, Calif., USA).

[0035] Methods of alignment of sequences for comparison are well known in the art. Various programs and alignment algorithms are described in: Smith and Waterman (1981); Needleman and Wunsch (1970); Pearson and Lipman (1988); Higgins and Sharp (1988); Higgins and Sharp (1989); Corpet et al. (1988): Huang et al. (1992); and Pearson et al. (1994). Altschul et al. (1994) presents a detailed consideration of sequence alignment methods and homology calculations.

[0036] The NCBI Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) (Altschul et al., 1990) is available from several sources, including the National Center for Biological Information (NCBI, Bethesda, Md.) and on the Internet, for use in connection with the sequence analysis programs blastp, blastn, blastx, tblastn and tblastx. It can be accessed at <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/>. A description of how to determine sequence identity using this program is available at <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/blast₋help.html>

[0037] Homologs of the disclosed SBP2 protein are characterized by possession of at least 80% sequence identity counted over the full length alignment with the disclosed amino acid sequence of the soybean SBP2 amino acid sequence using the NCBI Blast 2.0, gapped blastp set to default parameters. Such homologous peptides will more preferably possess at least 85%, more preferably at least 90% and still more preferably at least 95% sequence identity determined by this method. When less than the entire sequence is being compared for sequence identity, homologs will possess at least 90% and more preferably at least 95% and more preferably still at least 98% sequence identity over short windows of 10-20 amino acids. Methods for determining sequence identity over such short windows are described at <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/blast₋FAQs.html>. Homologs having the sequence identities described above will also possess the ability to mediate sucrose uptake in the described yeast assay system. The present invention provides not only the peptide homologs are described above, but also nucleic acid molecules that encode such homologs.

[0038] Homologs of the soybean SBP2 gene are similarly characterized by possession of at least 70% sequence identity counted over the full length alignment with the disclosed Glycine SBP2 gene sequence using the NCBI Blast 2.0, gapped blastn set to default parameters. Such homologous nucleic acids will more preferably possess at least 75%, more preferably at least 80% and still more preferably at least 90% or 95% sequence identity determined by this method. When less than the entire sequence is being compared for sequence identity, homologs will possess at least 85% and more preferably at least 90% and more preferably still at least 95% sequence identity over 30 nucleotide windows. Homologs having the sequence identities described above will, in some embodiments, also encode a polypeptide having ability to mediate sucrose uptake in the described yeast assay system. However, homologs as defined above are useful for modifying sucrose uptake activity in transgenic plants (for example, as used in antisense constructs) even when they do not encode a functional peptide.

[0039] Another indication that two nucleic acid molecules are substantially homologous is that the two molecules hybridize to each other under stringent conditions when one molecule is used as a hybridization probe, and the other is present in a biological sample, e.g., genomic material from a cell. Specific hybridization means that the molecules hybridize substantially only to each other and not to other molecules that may be present in the genomic material. Stringent conditions are sequence dependent and are different under different environmental parameters. Generally, stringent conditions are selected to be about 5° C. to 20° C. lower than the thermal melting point (T_(m)) for the specific sequence at a defined ionic strength and pH. The T_(m) is the temperature (under defined ionic strength and pH) at which 50% of the target sequence hybridizes to a perfectly matched probe. Conditions for nucleic acid hybridization and calculation of stringencies can be found in Sambrook et al. (1989) and Tijssen (1993). Hybridization conditions and stringencies are further discussed below.

[0040] Nucleic acid sequences that do not show a high degree of identity may nevertheless encode similar amino acid sequences, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code. It is understood that changes in nucleic acid sequence can be made using this degeneracy to produce multiple nucleic acid sequence that all encode substantially the same protein.

[0041] Probes and primers: Nucleic acid probes and primers may readily be prepared based on the nucleic acids provided by this invention. A probe comprises an isolated nucleic acid attached to a detectable label or reporter molecule. Typical labels include radioactive isotopes, ligands, chemiluminescent agents, and enzymes. Methods for labeling and guidance in the choice of labels appropriate for various purposes are discussed, e.g., in Sambrook et. al. (1989) and Ausubel et al. (1987).

[0042] Primers are short nucleic acids, preferably DNA oligonucleotides 15 nucleotides or more in length. Primers may be annealed to a complementary target DNA strand by nucleic acid hybridization to form a hybrid between the primer and the target DNA strand, and then extended along the target DNA strand by a DNA polymerase enzyme. Primer pairs can be used for amplification of a nucleic acid sequence, e.g., by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or other nucleic-acid amplification methods known in the art.

[0043] Methods for preparing and using probes and primers are described, for example, in Sambrook et al. (1989), Ausubel et al. (1987), and Innis et al., (1990). PCR primer pairs can be derived from a known sequence, for example, by using computer programs intended for that purpose such as Primer (Version 0.5, © 1991, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Ma.). One of skill in the art will appreciate that the specificity of a particular probe or primer increases with its length. Thus, for example, a primer comprising 20 consecutive nucleotides of the SBP1 or SBP2 gene 5′ regulatory region will anneal to a target sequence (e.g., a corresponding SBP regulatory region from Faba bean) with a higher specificity than a corresponding primer of only 15 nucleotides. Thus, in order to obtain greater specificity, probes and primers may be selected that comprise 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50 or more consecutive nucleotides of the nucleic acid sequences disclosed herein.

[0044] Transformed: A transformed cell is a cell into which has been introduced a nucleic acid molecule by molecular biology techniques. As used herein, the term transformation encompasses all techniques by which a nucleic acid molecule might be introduced into such a cell, including Agrobacterium transformation, plasmid transformation, viral tranafection and introduction of naked DNA by electroporation, lipofection, and particle gun acceleration.

[0045] Vector: A nucleic acid molecule as introduced into a host cell, thereby producing a transformed host cell. A vector may include nucleic acid sequences that permit it to replicate in the host cell, such as an origin of replication. A vector may also include one or more selectable marker genes and other genetic elements known in the art.

[0046] Isolated: An “isolated” biological component (such as a nucleic acid or protein) has been substantially separated or purified away from other biological components in the cell of the organism in which the component naturally occurs, i.e., other chromosomal and extrachromosomal DNA and RNA, and proteins. Nucleic acids and proteins which have been “isolated” thus include nucleic acids and proteins purified by standard purification methods. The term also embraces nucleic acids and proteins prepared by recombinant expression in a host cell as well as chemically synthesized nucleic acids.

[0047] Purified: The term purified does not require absolute purity; rather, it is intended as a relative term. Thus, for example, a purified SBP preparation is one in which the SBP is more enriched than the protein is in its natural environment within a cell. Preferably, a preparation of SBP is purified such that the SBP represents at least 50% of the total protein content of the preparation.

[0048] Operably linked: A first nucleic acid sequence is operably linked with a second nucleic acid sequence when the first nucleic acid sequence is placed in a functional relationship with the second nucleic acid sequence. For instance, a promoter is operably linked to a coding sequence if the promoter affects the transcription or expression of the coding sequence. Generally, operably linked DNA sequences are contiguous and, where necessary to join two protein coding regions, in the same reading frame.

[0049] Recombinant: A recombinant nucleic acid is one that has a sequence that is not naturally occurring or has a sequence that is made by an artificial combination of two otherwise separated segments of sequence. This artificial combination is often accomplished by chemical synthesis or, more commonly, by the artificial manipulation of isolated segments of nucleic acids, e.g., by genetic engineering techniques.

[0050] Ortholog: Two nucleotide or amino acid sequences are orthologs of each other if they share a common ancestral sequence and diverged when a species carrying that ancestral sequence split into two species. Orthologous sequences are also homologous sequences.

[0051] Transgenic plant: as used herein, this term refers to a plant that contains recombinant genetic material not normally found in plants of this type and which has been introduced into the plant in question (or into progenitors of the plant) by human manipulation. Thus, a plant that is grown from a plant cell into which recombinant DNA is introduced by transformation is a transgenic plant, as are all offspring of that plant which contain the introduced DNA (whether produced sexually or asexually). Transgenic plants may be produced from any transformable plant species, both monocotolydenous and dicotyledenous plants, including but not limited to soybean, rice, wheat, barley, and maize.

[0052] III. The SBP2 cDNA and encoded SBP2 peptide

[0053] The nucleic acid sequence of the SBP2 cDNA is shown in Seq. I.D. No. 5, and the amino acid sequence of the SBP2 protein is shown in Seq. I.D. No. 3. A comparison of the amino acid sequences of SBP1 and SBP2 is shown in FIG. 1.

[0054] i. Differential expression of SBP1 and SBP2 genes in soybean leaves and cotyledons.

[0055] The sense and antisense RNAs of ³²P-labeled SBP1 and SBP2 5′-flanking region were synthesized in vitro and 5.3×10⁵ cpm of a SBP1 sense, SBP1 antisense, SBP2 sense or SBP2 antisense RNA probe were hybridized with 5 μg poly(A+) mRNA from soybean leaves and cotyledons. SBP1 and SBP2 transcripts were observed to accumulate to similar levels in soybean cotyledons. In contrast, no SBP1 and SBP2 transcripts were detected in 4-wk old soybean leaves.

[0056] ii. Differential Expression of Soybean SBP1 and SBP2 genes

[0057] The expression patterns of the SBP1 and SBP2 genes were examined in soybean seeds using RNase protection methods. Five stages of seed cotyledon development were used (Stage 1=or <4 mm, Stage 2=5-6 mm, Stage 3=7 mm, Stage 4=9 mm, Stage 5=11-12 mm). During cotyledon development, an SBP1 antisense probe protected three major fragment (119, 111, and 97 nucleotides), indicating that three different transcription start sites were used. The SBP1 mRNA level reaches a plateau at stage 3, and this expression level is maintained until stage 5. In contrast, 5 protected fragments were detected when using SBP2 antisense probe, and SBP2 mRNA level continuously increased until seed size reached 11-12 mm. Quantitative data indicated that SBP1 mRNA level is three time more abundant than that of SBP2. The mRNA level of leaf tip is very low. However, low levels of SBP1 mRNA can be observed in 3 mm leaf tips after prolonged exposure. These data indicate that both SBP1 and SBP2 mRNAs are actively and differentially transcribed during seed development.

[0058] IV. 5′ regulatory regions of SBP1 and SBP2

[0059] Given the tissue-specific expression of the SBP1 and SBP2 genes, the regulatory regions of these genes responsible for conferring such expression are of interest, and may be used to regulate transgene expression in a similarly tissue-specific manner.

[0060] The 5′ regulatory regions of SBP1 and SBP2 are shown in Seq. I.D. Nos. 6 and 7, respectively.

[0061] V. Modified SBPs having enhanced sucrose uptake activity

[0062] The yeast assay system described by Overvoorde et al (1996) was used to determine the effect of modifying the amino acid sequence of the SBP proteins. This assay uses a derivative of the yeast strain suvy7 (Riesmeier et al., 1992) which has a spinach sucrose synthase CDNA stably integrated into its genome to mediate the intracellular hydrolysis of sucrose. However, this yeast strain lacks the ability to transport sucrose and so is unable to grow on a medium containing sucrose as the sole carbon source (Riesmeier et al., 1992). To generate a host strain that permits selection for yeast transformed with a sucrose binding protein gene, the susy7 strain was selected for uracil auxotrophy by growth on medium containing 5′-fluoroorotic acid (Overvoorde et al., 1996). The resulting strain, susy7/ura3 is unable to grow on a medium lacking uracil and containing glucose as the sole carbon source.

[0063] Chimeric genes consisting of the yeast alcohol dehydrogenase1 (ADH1) promoter, an SBP open reading frame and the ADH1 polyadenylation signal were constructed in the yeast vector pMK1 95 as described by Overvoorde et al. (1996) to create plasmids designated pYESBP. The susy7/ura3 yeast strain was transformed with these constructs using a small-scale LiOAc-based procedure essentially as described by Gietz et al. (1992). Transformed yeast were then plated on the uracil dropout selection medium containing 2% glucose (CM[GLU]) or 2% sucrose (CM[SUC]) (Ausubel et al., 1994).

[0064] Uptake assays were performed by growing the transformed yeast cells to an OD₆₀₀ of 0.5 to 1.3 in YPD, harvested by centrifugation, washed twice with 25 mM Mes-KOH, pH 5.5, 0.5- 2.5 μCi of ¹⁴C sucrose, and unlabeled sucrose at twice the final concentration. Aliquots of the uptake solution and cells were collected at specified time points, and uptake was quenched by transfer to 5 ml of ice-cold water. The cells were collected by filtration through glass fiber filters and washed five times with 5 ml of ice-cold water. The radioactivity taken up by the cells was determined by liquid scintillation counting. All uptake assays were performed in a final concentration of 1 mM sucrose.

[0065] Nucleic acid sequences encoding modified forms of the SBP1 protein were constructed and introduced into the pYESBP constructs described above. FIG. 2 shows the sucrose uptake rate obtained with yeast cells transformed with the pMK195 vector only (filed circles), and constructs expressing the full length SBP1 protein (filled square) and a truncated SBP1 protein missing the C-terminal 80 amino acids (filled triangle). The amino acid sequence of this truncated SBP1 protein is shown in Seq. I.D. No. 2. The truncated protein comprises residues 1-444 of the full length SBP1.

[0066] This surprising result indicates that enhanced sucrose uptake in plants may be achieved by introducing transgenes encoding modified SBPs. Modified SBPs having enhanced sucrose uptake activity include forms of SBP1 and SBP2 having C-terminal deletions. Such deletions include removal of about 80 amino acids from the C-terminal, but deletions of greater or fewer than 80 amino acids may also be employed. The sucrose uptake activity any particular deletion may readily be determined using the yeast sucrose uptake assay described above. Thus, by way of example, SBP proteins having C-terminal deletions of between 10 and 100 amino acids are candidates for enhanced sucrose uptake activity and may be assayed using this system.

EXAMPLES

[0067] The following examples are illustrative of various embodiments of the present invention.

Example one Preferred Method for Producing SBP Nucleic Acids

[0068] This invention provides a SBP2 cDNA sequence and the amino acid sequence of the SBP2 protein, modified SBP proteins having enhanced sucrose uptake activity, and 5′ regulatory regions for the SBP1 and SBP2 genes. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may now be utilized in a preferred method for producing nucleic acid sequences encoding the various SBP proteins described in the invention, as well as the SBP gene 5′ regulatory regions. PCR amplification of cDNAs encoding the SBP proteins of the present invention may be accomplished either by direct PCR from a plant cDNA library or by Reverse-Transcription PCR (RT-PCR) using RNA extracted from plant cells as a template. Amplification of SBP gene sequences and 5′ regulatory regions may be accomplished by direct PCR amplification from plant genomic DNA, or from a plant genomic library. Methods and conditions for both direct PCR and RTPCR are known in the art and are described in Innis et al. (1990).

[0069] The selection of PCR primers will be made according to the portions of the cDNA or gene that are to be amplified. Primers may be chosen to amplify small segments of the cDNA, the open reading frame, the entire cDNA molecule or the entire gene sequence. Variations in amplification conditions may be required to accommodate primers of differing lengths; such considerations are well known in the art and are discussed in Innis et al. (1990), Sambrook et al. (1989), and Ausubel et al (1992). By way of example only, the entire SBP2 cDNA molecule as shown in Seq. I.D. No. 5 may be amplified using the following combination of primers: primer 1 5′ TGTAAAACGACGGCCAGTGAATT 3′ (Seq. I.D. No.8) primer 2 5′ GATTACGCCAAGCTCGAAATTAA 3′ (Seq. I.D. No.9)

[0070] The open reading frame portion of the SBP2 cDNA may be amplified using the following primer pair: (Seq. I.D. No.10) primer 3 5′ ATGGCGACCAGAGCCAAGCTTTCTTTA 3′ (Seq. I.D. No.11) primer 4 5′ CGCAACAGCGCGACGACCACGCTCGCT 3′

[0071] And a cDNA encoding a truncated version of the SBP2 protein (having the C-terminal 80 amino acids removed) may be amplified using the following primer pair: (Seq. I.D. No.10) primer 3 5′ ATGGCGACCAGAGCCAAGCTTTCTTTA 3′ (Seq. I.D. No.12) primer 5 5′ GAAGGGATGACCAGGAGGGACAACAAA 3′

[0072] The SBP2 5 regulatory sequence may be amplified using the following primer pair: primer 6 5′ TTGTAAACGACGGCCAGTGAATT 3′ (Seq. I.D. No.13) primer 7 5′ GGTGAGGTCAGTGAGGAACAACA 3′ (Seq. I.D. No.14)

[0073] These primers are illustrative only; it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that many different primers may be derived from the provided nucleic acid sequences in order to amplify particular regions of these molecule. Resequencing of PCR products obtained by these amplification procedures is recommended; this will facilitate confirmation of the amplified sequence and will also provide information on natural variation on this sequence in different ecotypes and plant populations.

[0074] Oligonucleotides that are derived from the SBP2 cDNA or SBP1 and SBP2 5′ regulatory regions are encompassed within the scope of the present invention. Preferably, such oligonucleotide primers will comprise a sequence of at least 15-20 consecutive nucleotides of the SBP2 cDNA or gene sequences. To enhance amplification specificity, oligonucleotide primers comprising at least 25, 30, 35, 40,, 45 or 50 consecutive nucleotides of these sequences may also be used.

[0075] In addition, the SBP2 gene sequence may be obtained by PCR amplification using primers derived from the disclosed cDNA sequence to probe a genomic library or genomic DNA, or by probing a genomic DNA library using a labeled probe derived from the SBP2 cDNA sequence. Standard PCR amplification or hybridization methods may be used for these approaches.

Example Two Isolation of Homologous Gene Sequence from Other Plant Species

[0076] With the provision herein of the soybean SBP2 cDNA, SBP 5′ regulatory regions, and the disclosed discovery that modification of SBP proteins, particularly truncation of the C-terminus, produces enhanced sucrose uptake, the invention also enables the production of corresponding molecules from other plant species. Thus, the present invention permits the isolation of SBP2 homologs from other species, as well as the production of enhanced efficiency SBP proteins of other plant species. Both conventional hybridization and PCR amplification procedures may be utilized to obtain corresponding cDNAs from other species and to produce nucleic acids encoding enhanced activity SBP proteins. Common to both of these techniques is the hybridization of probes or primers derived from the SBP2 cDNA or gene sequence to a target nucleotide preparation, which may be, in the case of conventional hybridization approaches, a cDNA or genomic library or, in the case of PCR amplification, a cDNA or genomic library, or an mRNA preparation.

[0077] Direct PCR amplification may be performed on cDNA or genomic libraries prepared from the plant species in question, or RT-PCR may be performed using mRNA extracted from the plant cells using standard methods. PCR primers will comprise at least 15 consecutive nucleotides of the SBP2 cDNA. One of skill in the art will appreciate that sequence differences between the soybean SBP2 cDNA and the target nucleic acid to be amplified may result in lower amplification efficiencies. To compensate for this, longer PCR primers or lower annealing temperatures may be used during the amplification cycle. Where lower annealing temperatures are used, sequential rounds of amplification using nested primer pairs may be necessary to enhance specificity.

[0078] For conventional hybridization, the hybridization probe is preferably conjugated with a detectable label such as a radioactive label, and the probe is preferably of at least 20 nucleotides in length. As is well known in the art, increasing the length of hybridization probes tends to give enhanced specificity. The labeled probe derived from the soybean SBP2 cDNA or gene sequence may be hybridized to a plant cDNA or genomic library and the hybridization signal detected using means known in the art. The hybridizing colony or plaque (depending on the type of library used) is then purified and the cloned sequence contained in that colony or plaque isolated and characterized.

[0079] Homologs of the soybean SBP2 cDNA may alternatively be obtained by immunoscreening of an expression library. With the provision herein of the disclosed SBP2 nucleic acid sequences, the enzyme may be expressed and purified in a heterologous expression system (e.g., E. coli) and used to raise antibodies (monoclonal or polyclonal) specific for the SBP2 protein. Antibodies may also be raised against synthetic peptides derived from the SBP2 amino acid sequence presented herein. Methods of raising antibodies are well known in the art and are described in Harlow and Lane (1988). Such antibodies can then be used to screen an expression cDNA library produced from the plant from which it is desired to clone the SBP2 ortholog, using the methods described above. The selected cDNAs can be confirmed by sequencing and enzyme activity.

[0080] The soybean SBP2 gene or cDNA, and homologs of these sequences from other plants may be incorporated into transformation vectors and introduced into plants to modify SBP activity in such plants, as described in Example Three below. In addition, nucleic acids encoding modified SBP proteins as taught herein may also be used to produce plants having modified sucrose uptake activity. It is anticipated that the native SBP gene promoter may be particularly useful in the practice of the present invention in that it may be used to drive the expression of SBP transgenes, such as antisense constructs. By using the native SBP gene promoter, expression of these transgenes may be regulated in coordination with the native SBP gene (for example, in the same temporal or tissue-specific expression patterns).

Example Three Transgenic Plants having Modified Sucrose Uptake Activity

[0081] Once a gene (or cDNA) encoding a protein involved in the determination of a particular plant characteristic has been isolated, standard techniques may be used to express the cDNA in transgenic plants in order to modify that particular plant characteristic. The basic approach is to clone the cDNA into a transformation vector, such that it is operably linked to control sequences (e.g., a promoter) that direct expression of the cDNA in plant cells. The transformation vector is then introduced into plant cells by one of a number of techniques (e.g., electroporation) and progeny plants containing the introduced cDNA are selected. Preferably all or part of the transformation vector will stably integrate into the genome of the plant cell. That part of the transformation vector which integrates into the plant cell and which contains the introduced cDNA and associated sequences for controlling expression (the introduced “transgene”) may be referred to as the recombinant expression cassette.

[0082] Selection of progeny plants containing the introduced transgene may be made based upon the detection of an altered phenotype. Such a phenotype may result directly from the cDNA cloned into the transformation vector or may be manifested as enhanced resistance to a chemical agent (such as an antibiotic) as a result of the inclusion of a dominant selectable marker gene incorporated into the transformation vector.

[0083] The choice of (a) control sequences and (b) how the cDNA (or selected portions of the CDNA) are arranged in the transformation vector relative to the control sequences determine, in part, how the plant characteristic affected by the introduced cDNA is modified. For example, the control sequences may be tissue specific, such that the cDNA is only expressed in particular tissues of the plant (e.g., pollen, seed) and so the affected characteristic will be modified only in those tissues. The cDNA sequence may be arranged relative to the control sequence such that the cDNA transcript is expressed normally, or in an antisense orientation. Expression of an antisense RNA corresponding to the cloned cDNA will result in a reduction of the targeted gene product (the targeted gene product being the protein encoded by the plant gene from which the introduced cDNA was derived). Over-expression of the introduced cDNA, resulting from a plus-sense orientation of the cDNA relative to the control sequences in the vector, may lead to an increase in the level of the gene product, or may result in co-suppression (also termed “sense suppression”) of that gene product.

[0084] Successful examples of the modification of plant characteristics by transformation with cloned cDNA sequences are replete in the technical and scientific literature. Selected examples, which serve to illustrate the current knowledge in this field of technology, and which are herein incorporated by reference, include:

[0085] U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,514 to Boudet (modification of lignin synthesis using antisense RNA and co-suppression);

[0086] U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,974 to Hitz (modification of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid levels using antisense RNA and co-suppression);

[0087] U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,192 to Murase (modification of amino acid and fatty acid composition using antisense RNA);

[0088] U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,167 to Voelker (modification of medium chain fatty acids)

[0089] U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,020 to Jorgensen (modification of flavonoids using co-suppression);

[0090] U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,021 to Dougherty (modification of virus resistance by expression of plus-sense untranslatable RNA);

[0091] WO 96/13582 (modification of seed VLCFA composition using over expression, co-suppression and antisense RNA in conjunction with the Arabidopsis FAE1 gene); and

[0092] WO 95/15387 (modification of seed VLCFA composition using over expression of jojoba wax synthesis gene).

[0093] These examples include descriptions of transformation vector selection, transformation techniques and the construction of constructs designed to over-express the introduced cDNA or to express antisense RNA corresponding to the cDNA. In light of the foregoing and the provision herein of the SBP2 gene and nucleic acids encoding modified SBP proteins conferring enhanced sucrose uptake activity, it is thus apparent that one of skill in the art will be able to introduce these nucleic acids, or homologous or derivative forms of these molecules (e.g., antisense forms), into plants in order to produce plants having modified sucrose uptake activity, in developing seeds and other tissues. The result can be altered plant development with agricultural and economic consequences.

[0094] a. Plant Types

[0095] Nucleic acid molecules according to the present invention (e.g., the SBP2 gene, nucleic acids encoding modified SBP proteins, homologs of these sequences and derivatives such as antisense forms) may be introduced into any plant type in order to modify sucrose uptake activity in the plant. Thus, the sequences of the present invention may be used to modify sucrose uptake activity in any higher plant, including monocotyledonous and dicotyledenous plants, including, but not limited to maize, wheat, rice, barley, soybean, beans in general, rape/canola, alfalfa, flax, sunflower, safflower, brassica, cotton, flax, peanut, clover; vegetables such as lettuce, tomato, cucurbits, potato, carrot, radish, pea, lentils, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, peppers; tree fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots; flowers such as carnations and roses.

[0096] b. Vector Construction, Choice of Promoters

[0097] A number of recombinant vectors suitable for stable transfection of plant cells or for the establishment of transgenic plants have been described including those described in Pouwels et al., (1987), Weissbach and Weissbach, (1989), and Gelvin et al., (1990). Typically, plant transformation vectors include one or more cloned plant genes (or cDNAs) under the transcriptional control of 5′ and 3′ regulatory sequences and a dominant selectable marker. Such plant transformation vectors typically also contain a promoter regulatory region (e.g., a regulatory region controlling inducible or constitutive, environmentally-or developmentally-regulated, or cell- or tissue-specific expression), a transcription initiation start site, a ribosome binding site, an RNA processing signal, a transcription termination site, and/or a polyadenylation signal.

[0098] Examples of constitutive plant promoters which may be useful for expressing nucleic acids include: the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter, which confers constitutive, high-level expression in most plant tissues (see, e.g., Odel et al., 1985, Dekeyser et al., 1990, Terada and Shimamoto, 1990; Benfey and Chua. 1990); the nopaline synthase promoter (An et al., 1988); and the octopine synthase promoter (Fromm et al., 1989).

[0099] A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulated in response to environmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmental signals, also can be used for expression of the cDNA in plant cells, including promoters regulated by: (a) heat (Callis et al., 1988; Ainley, et al. 1993; Gilmartin et al. 1992); (b) light (e.g., the pea rbcS-3A promoter, Kuhlemeier et al., 1989, and the maize rbcS promoter, Schaffner and Sheen, 1991); (c) hormones, such as abscisic acid (Marcotte et al., 1989); (d) wounding (e.g., wunI, Siebertz et al., 1989); and (e) chemicals such as methyl jasminate or salicylic acid (see also Gatz et al., 1997) can also be used to regulate gene expression.

[0100] Alternatively, tissue specific (root, leaf, flower, and seed for example) promoters (Carpenter et al., 1992; Denis et al., 1993; Opperman et al., 1993; Stockhause et al. 1997; Roshal et al., 1987; Schernthaner et al., 1988; and Bustos et al., 1989) can be fused to the coding sequence to obtained particular expression in respective organs. In addition, the timing of the expression can be controlled by using promoters such as those acting at senescencing (Gan and Amasino, 1995) or late seed development (Odell et al., 1994).

[0101] The promoter regions of the SBP1 and SBP2 genes disclosed herein confer developing seed-specific expression in soybean. Accordingly, these promoters may be used to obtain developing seed specific expression of the introduced transgene.

[0102] Plant transformation vectors may also include RNA processing signals, for example, introns, which may be positioned upstream or downstream of the ORF sequence in the transgene. In addition, the expression vectors may also include additional regulatory sequences from the 3′-untranslated region of plant genes, e.g., a 3′ terminator region to increase mRNA stability of the mRNA, such as the PI-II terminator region of potato or the octopine or nopaline synthase 3′ terminator regions.

[0103] Finally, as noted above, plant transformation vectors may also include dominant selectable marker genes to allow for the ready selection of transformants. Such genes include those encoding antibiotic resistance genes (e.g., resistance to hygromycin, kanamycin, bleomycin, G418, streptomycin or spectinomycin) and herbicide resistance genes (e.g., phosphinothricin acetyltransferase).

[0104] C. Arrangement of SBP sequence in vector

[0105] The particular arrangement of the SBP sequence in the transformation vector will be selected according to the type of expression of the sequence that is desired.

[0106] Where enhanced sucrose uptake activity is desired in the plant, the SBP ORF may be operably linked to a constitutive high-level promoter such as the CaMV 35S promoter. Modification of sucrose uptake activity may also be achieved by introducing into a plant a transformation vector containing a variant form of the SBP2 gene, for example a form which varies from the exact nucleotide sequence of the SBP2 ORF, but which encodes a protein that retains the functional characteristic of the SBP2 protein, i.e., conferring sucrose uptake activity. By way of example, enhanced sucrose uptake activity may also be obtained by utilizing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a modified SBP as discussed above. Such modified SBPs include SBPs having C-terminal deletions, generally in the range of 10-100 amino acid residue, and preferably about 80 amino acid residues.

[0107] In contrast, a reduction sucrose uptake activity in the transgenic plant may be obtained by introducing into plants antisense constructs based on a SBP gene sequence. For antisense suppression, SBP gene is arranged in reverse orientation relative to the promoter sequence in the transformation vector. The introduced sequence need not be the full length SBP gene, and need not be exactly homologous to the SBP gene found in the plant type to be transformed. Generally, however, where the introduced sequence is of shorter length, a higher degree of homology to the native SBP sequence will be needed for effective antisense suppression. Preferably, the introduced antisense sequence in the vector will be at least 30 nucleotides in length, and improved antisense suppression will typically be observed as the length of the antisense sequence increases. Preferably, the length of the antisense sequence in the vector will be greater than 100 nucleotides. Transcription of an antisense construct as described results in the production of RNA molecules that are the reverse complement of mRNA molecules transcribed from the endogenous SBP gene in the plant cell. Although the exact mechanism by which antisense RNA molecules interfere with gene expression has not been elucidated, it is believed that antisense RNA molecules bind to the endogenous mRNA molecules and thereby inhibit translation of the endogenous mRNA.

[0108] Suppression of endogenous SBP gene expression can also be achieved using ribozymes. Ribozymes are synthetic RNA molecules that possess highly specific endoribonuclease activity. The production and use of ribozymes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,071 to Cech and U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,508 to Haselhoff. The inclusion of ribozyme sequences within antisense RNAs may be used to confer RNA cleaving activity on the antisense RNA, such that endogenous mRNA molecules that bind to the antisense RNA are cleaved, which in turn leads to an enhanced antisense inhibition of endogenous gene expression.

[0109] Constructs in which a SBP nucleic acid (or variants thereof) are over-expressed may also be used to obtain co-suppression of the endogenous SBP gene in the manner described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,021 to Jorgensen. Such co-suppression (also termed sense suppression) does not require that the SBP gene be introduced into the plant cells, nor does it require that the introduced sequence be exactly identical to the endogenous SBP gene. However, as with antisense suppression, the suppressive efficiency will be enhanced as (1) the introduced sequence is lengthened and (2) the sequence similarity between the introduced sequence and the endogenous SBP gene is increased.

[0110] Constructs expressing an untranslatable form of a SBP mRNA may also be used to suppress the expression of endogenous SBP activity. Methods for producing such constructs are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,021 to Dougherty et al. Preferably, such constructs are made by introducing a premature stop codon into the SBP ORF.

[0111] Finally, dominant negative mutant forms of the disclosed sequences may be used to block endogenous SBP activity. Such mutants require the production of mutated forms of the SBP protein that bind to sucrose but do not catalyze the uptake of sucrose.

[0112] d. Transformation and Regeneration Techniques

[0113] Transformation and regeneration of both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plant cells is now routine, and the selection of the most appropriate transformation technique will be determined by the practitioner. The choice of method will vary with the type of plant to be transformed; those skilled in the art will recognize the suitability of particular methods for given plant types. Suitable methods may include, but are not limited to: electroporation of plant protoplasts; liposome-mediated transformation; polyethylene glycol (PEG) mediated transformation; transformation using viruses; micro-injection of plant cells; micro-projectile bombardment of plant cells; vacuum infiltration; and Agrobacterium tumeficiens (AT) mediated transformation. Typical procedures for transforming and regenerating plants are described in the patent documents listed at the beginning of this section.

[0114] e. Selection of Transformed Plants

[0115] Following transformation and regeneration of plants with the transformation vector, transformed plants are preferably selected using a dominant selectable marker incorporated into the transformation vector. Typically, such a marker will confer antibiotic resistance on the seedlings of transformed plants, and selection of transformants can be accomplished by exposing the seedlings to appropriate concentrations of the antibiotic.

[0116] After transformed plants are selected and grown to maturity, they can be assayed using known methods to determine whether SBP activity has been altered as a result of the introduced transgene. In addition, antisense or sense suppression of an endogenous SBP gene may be detected by analyzing mRNA expression on Northern blots.

Example Four Production of Sequence Variants

[0117] As noted above, modification of sucrose uptake activity in plant cells can be achieved by transforming plants with the SBP2 cDNA or gene, antisense constructs based on the SBP2 cDNA or gene sequence or nucleic acid sequences encoding modified SBP proteins. With the provision of the SBP2 cDNA and gene sequences and the SBP 5′ regulatory regions herein, the creation of variants on these sequences by standard mutagenesis techniques is now enabled.

[0118] Variant DNA molecules include those created by standard DNA mutagenesis techniques, for example, M13 primer mutagenesis. Details of these techniques are provided in Sambrook et al. (1989), Ch. 15. By the use of such techniques, variants may be created which differ in minor ways from the disclosed sequences disclosed. DNA molecules and nucleotide sequences which are derivatives of those specifically disclosed herein and which differ from those disclosed by the deletion, addition or substitution of nucleotides while still encoding a protein which possesses the functional characteristic of a SBP protein (i.e., the ability to mediate sucrose uptake in the yeast assay system) are comprehended by this invention. DNA molecules and nucleotide sequences which are derived from the SBP2 cDNA and gene sequences disclosed include DNA sequences which hybridize under stringent conditions to the DNA sequences disclosed, or fragments thereof.

[0119] Hybridization conditions resulting in particular degrees of stringency will vary depending upon the nature of the hybridization method of choice and the composition and length of the hybridizing DNA used. Generally, the temperature of hybridization and the ionic strength (especially the Na⁺ concentration) of the hybridization buffer will determine the stringency of hybridization. Calculations regarding hybridization conditions required for attaining particular degrees of stringency are discussed by Sambrook et al. (1989), chapters 9 and 11, herein incorporated by reference. By way of illustration only, a hybridization experiment may be performed by hybridization of a DNA molecule (for example, soybean SBP2 cDNA sequence) to a target DNA molecule (for example, the a corresponding SBP2 cDNA sequence in tobacco) which has been electrophoresed in an agarose gel and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane by Southern blotting (Southern. 1975), a technique well known in the art and described in (Sambrook et al., 1989). Hybridization with a target probe labeled with [³²P]dCTP is generally carried out in a solution of high ionic strength such as 6×SSC at a temperature that is 20-25° C. below the melting temperature, T_(m), described below. For such Southern hybridization experiments where the target DNA molecule on the Southern blot contains 10 ng of DNA or more, hybridization is typically carried out for 68 hours using 12 ng/ml radiolabeled probe (of specific activity equal to 10⁹ CPM/μg or greater). Following hybridization, the nitrocellulose filter is washed to remove background hybridization. The washing conditions should be as stringent as possible to remove background hybridization but to retain a specific hybridization signal. The term T_(m) represents the temperature above which, under the prevailing ionic conditions, the radiolabeled probe molecule will not hybridize to its target DNA molecule. The T_(m) of such a hybrid molecule may be estimated from the following equation (Bolton and McCarthy, 1962):

T_(m)=81.5 C 16.6(log₁₀[Na+])+0.41(%G+C)−-0.63(% formamide) (600/l)

[0120] Where l=the length of the hybrid in base pairs.

[0121] This equation is valid for concentrations of Na⁺ in the range of 0.01 M to 0.4 M. and it is less accurate for calculations of T_(m) in solutions of higher [Na⁺]. The equation is also primarily valid for DNAs whose G+C content is in the range of 30% to 75%, and it applies to hybrids greater than 100 nucleotides in length (the behavior of oligonucleotide probes is described in detail in Ch. 11 of Sambrook et al., 1989).

[0122] Thus, by way of example, for a 150 base pair DNA probe derived from the first 150 base pairs of the open reading frame of the soybean SBP2 cDNA (with a hypothetical % GC=45%), a calculation of hybridization conditions required to give particular stringencies may be made as follows:

[0123] For this example, it is assumed that the filter will be washed in 0.3×SSC solution following hybridization, thereby [Na⁺]=0.045M; % GC=45%; Formamide concentration=0; 1=150 base pairs; and T_(m)=81.5 16(log₁₀[Na⁺])+(0.41×45) (600/150) and so T_(m)=74.4 C.

[0124] The T_(m) of double-stranded DNA decreases by 1-1.5° C. with every 1% decrease in homology (Bonner et al., 1973). Therefore, for this given example, washing the filter in 0.3×SSC at 59.4-64.4° C. will produce a stringency of hybridization equivalent to 90%. Alternatively, washing the hybridized filter in 0.3×SSC at a temperature of 65.4-68.4 ° C. will yield a hybridization stringency of 94%. The above example is given entirely by way of theoretical illustration. One skilled in the art will appreciate that other hybridization techniques may be utilized and that variations in experimental conditions will necessitate alternative calculations for stringency.

[0125] DNA sequences from plants that encode a protein having SBP activity and which hybridize under hybridization conditions of at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 85%, more preferably at least 90% and most preferably at least 95% stringency to the disclosed SBP2 sequence are encompassed within the present invention.

[0126] The degeneracy of the genetic code further widens the scope of the present invention as it enables major variations in the nucleotide sequence of a DNA molecule while maintaining the amino acid sequence of the encoded protein. For example, the second amino acid residue of the soybean SBP2 protein is alanine. This is encoded in the soybean SBP2 open reading frame by the nucleotide codon triplet GCG. Because of the degeneracy of the genetic code, three other nucleotide codon triplets-GCA, GCC and GCT-also code for alanine. Thus, the nucleotide sequence of the soybean SBP2 ORF could be changed at this position to any of these three codons without affecting the amino acid composition of the encoded protein or the characteristics of the protein. Based upon the degeneracy of the genetic code, variant DNA molecules may be derived from the cDNA and gene sequences disclosed herein using standard DNA mutagenesis techniques as described above, or by synthesis of DNA sequences. Thus, this invention also encompasses nucleic acid sequences which encode a SBP protein but which vary from the disclosed nucleic acid sequences by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code.

[0127] The present invention teaches that enhanced sucrose uptake activity may be obtained by modifying the sequence of a plant SBP, e.g., by deleting 80 C-terminal amino acids. One skilled in the art will recognize that DNA mutagenesis techniques may be used not only to produce variant DNA molecules, but will also facilitate the production of such modified SBP protein. In addition, other changes to the amino acid sequence can be made including deletions, additions and substitutions.

[0128] While the site for introducing an amino acid sequence variation is predetermined, the mutation per se need not be predetermined. For example, in order to optimize the performance of a mutation at a given site, random mutagenesis may be conducted at the target codon or region and the expressed protein variants screened for the optimal combination of desired activity. Techniques for making substitution mutations at predetermined sites in DNA having a known sequence as described above are well known.

[0129] Amino acid substitutions are typically of single residues; insertions usually will be on the order of about from 1 to 10 amino acid residues; and deletions will range about from 1 to more than 100 residues. Substitutions, deletions. insertions or any combination thereof may be combined to arrive at a final construct. Obviously, the mutations that are made in the DNA encoding the protein must not place the sequence out of reading frame and preferably will not create complementary regions that could produce secondary mRNA structure.

[0130] Substitutional variants are those in which at least one residue in the amino acid sequence has been removed and a different residue inserted in its place. Such substitutions generally are made in accordance with the following Table 1 when it is desired to finely modulate the characteristics of the protein. Table 1 shows amino acids which may be substituted for an original amino acid in a protein and which are regarded as conservative substitutions. TABLE 1 Original Residue Conservative Substitutions Ala ser Arg lys Asn gln; his Asp glu Cys ser Gln asn Glu asp Gly pro His asn; gln Ile leu, val Leu ile; val Lys arg; gln; glu Met leu; ile Phe met; leu; tyr Ser thr Thr ser Trp tyr Tyr trp; phe Val ile; leu

[0131] Substantial changes in enzymatic function or other features are made by selecting substitutions that are less conservative than those in Table 1, i.e., selecting residues that differ more significantly in their effect on maintaining (a) the structure of the polypeptide backbone in the area of the substitution, for example, as a sheet or helical conformation, (b) the charge or hydrophobicity of the molecule at the target site, or (c) the bulk of the side chain. The substitutions which in general are expected to produce the greatest changes in protein properties will be those in which (a) a hydrophilic residue, e.g., seryl or threonyl, is substituted for (or by) a hydrophobic residue, e.g., leucyl, isoleucyl, phenylalanyl, valyl or alanyl; (b) a cysteine or proline is substituted for (or by) any other residue; (c) a residue having an electropositive side chain, e.g., lysyl, arginyl, or histadyl, is substituted for (or by) an electronegative residue, e.g., glutamyl or aspartyl; or (d) a residue having a bulky side chain, e.g., phenylalanine, is substituted for (or by) one not having a side chain, e.g., glycine.

[0132] The effects of these amino acid substitutions or deletions or additions may be assessed for derivatives of the SBP proteins by analyzing the ability of the derivative proteins to catalyze sucrose uptake in the yeast assay system described above.

Example Five Use of SBP 5′ Regulatory Regions to Control Transgene Expression

[0133] The promoters of the Glycine SBP1 and SBP2 genes confer developing seed-specific expression. Accordingly, the promoter sequences, shown in Seq. I.D. Nos. 7 (SBP2) and 8 (SBP1) may be used to produce transgene constructs that are specifically expressed in developing seeds. One of skill in the art will recognize that regulation of transgene expression in developing seeds may be achieved with less than the entire 5′ regulatory sequences shown in Seq. I.D. Nos. 7 & 8. Thus, by way of example, developing seed-specific expression may be obtained by employing a 50 base pair or 100 base pair region of the disclosed promoter sequences. The determination of whether a particular sub-region of the disclosed sequence operates to confer effective seed-specific expression in a particular system (taking into account the plant species into which the construct is being introduced, the level of expression required, etc.) will be performed using known methods, such as operably linking the promoter sub-region to a marker gene (e.g. GUS), introducing such constructs into plants and then determining the level of expression of the marker gene in developing seeds and other plant tissues.

[0134] The present invention therefore facilitates the production, by standard molecular biology techniques, of nucleic acid molecules comprising the SBP1 or SBP2 promoter sequence operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence, such as an open reading frame. Suitable open reading frames include open reading frames encoding any protein for which expression in developing seeds is desired. Examples of genes that may suitably be expressed in a seed-specific manner under the control of the disclosed SBP promoters include, but are not limited to:

[0135] (1) genes that enhance the nutritional quality of the seeds, for example, by increasing the content of limiting amino acids, including lysine, methionine and cysteine. This may be achieved by expressing proteins containing high levels of these amino acids in seeds. Examples include the high methionine storage proteins from brazil nut (Saalbach et al., 1996) and sunflower (Molvig et al., 1997).

[0136] (2) genes that increase gluten levels in wheat, so as to enhance the bread-making quality of the wheat flour (Shewry et al., 1995).

[0137] (3) genes that enhance insect resistance in the seed (for example, resistance to weevils). Suitable genes include the α-amylase inhibitor gene which kills seed weevils (Schmidt, 1994).

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1 15 1 524 PRT Glycine max 1 Met Gly Met Arg Thr Lys Leu Ser Leu Ala Ile Phe Phe Phe Phe Leu 1 5 10 15 Leu Ala Leu Phe Ser Asn Leu Ala Phe Gly Lys Cys Lys Glu Thr Glu 20 25 30 Val Glu Glu Glu Asp Pro Glu Leu Val Thr Cys Lys His Gln Cys Gln 35 40 45 Gln Gln Gln Gln Tyr Thr Glu Gly Asp Lys Arg Val Cys Leu Gln Ser 50 55 60 Cys Asp Arg Tyr His Arg Met Lys Gln Glu Arg Glu Lys Gln Ile Gln 65 70 75 80 Glu Glu Thr Arg Glu Lys Lys Glu Glu Glu Ser Arg Glu Arg Glu Glu 85 90 95 Glu Gln Gln Glu Gln His Glu Glu Gln Asp Glu Asn Pro Tyr Ile Phe 100 105 110 Glu Glu Asp Lys Asp Phe Glu Thr Arg Val Glu Thr Glu Gly Gly Arg 115 120 125 Ile Arg Val Leu Lys Lys Phe Thr Glu Lys Ser Lys Leu Leu Gln Gly 130 135 140 Ile Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu Ala Ile Leu Glu Ala Arg Ala His Thr Phe 145 150 155 160 Val Ser Pro Arg His Phe Asp Ser Glu Val Val Phe Phe Asn Ile Lys 165 170 175 Gly Arg Ala Val Leu Gly Leu Val Ser Glu Ser Glu Thr Glu Lys Ile 180 185 190 Thr Leu Glu Pro Gly Asp Met Ile His Ile Pro Ala Gly Thr Pro Leu 195 200 205 Tyr Ile Val Asn Arg Asp Glu Asn Asp Lys Leu Phe Leu Ala Met Leu 210 215 220 His Ile Pro Val Ser Val Ser Thr Pro Gly Lys Phe Glu Glu Phe Phe 225 230 235 240 Ala Pro Gly Gly Arg Asp Pro Glu Ser Val Leu Ser Ala Phe Ser Trp 245 250 255 Asn Val Leu Gln Ala Ala Leu Gln Thr Pro Lys Gly Lys Leu Glu Asn 260 265 270 Val Phe Asp Gln Gln Asn Glu Gly Ser Ile Phe Arg Ile Ser Arg Glu 275 280 285 Gln Val Arg Ala Leu Ala Pro Thr Lys Lys Ser Ser Trp Trp Pro Phe 290 295 300 Gly Gly Glu Ser Lys Pro Gln Phe Asn Ile Phe Ser Lys Arg Pro Thr 305 310 315 320 Ile Ser Asn Gly Tyr Gly Arg Leu Thr Glu Val Gly Pro Asp Asp Asp 325 330 335 Glu Lys Ser Trp Leu Gln Arg Leu Asn Leu Met Leu Thr Phe Thr Asn 340 345 350 Ile Thr Gln Arg Ser Met Ser Thr Ile His Tyr Asn Ser His Ala Thr 355 360 365 Lys Ile Ala Leu Val Ile Asp Gly Arg Gly His Leu Gln Ile Ser Cys 370 375 380 Pro His Met Ser Ser Arg Ser Ser His Ser Lys His Asp Lys Ser Ser 385 390 395 400 Pro Ser Tyr His Arg Ile Ser Ser Asp Leu Lys Pro Gly Met Val Phe 405 410 415 Val Val Pro Pro Gly His Pro Phe Val Thr Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Glu 420 425 430 Asn Leu Leu Met Ile Cys Phe Glu Val Asn Ala Arg Asp Asn Lys Lys 435 440 445 Phe Thr Phe Ala Gly Lys Asp Asn Ile Val Ser Ser Leu Asp Asn Val 450 455 460 Ala Lys Glu Leu Ala Phe Asn Tyr Pro Ser Glu Met Val Asn Gly Val 465 470 475 480 Phe Leu Leu Gln Arg Phe Leu Glu Arg Lys Leu Ile Gly Arg Leu Tyr 485 490 495 His Leu Pro His Lys Asp Arg Lys Glu Ser Phe Phe Phe Pro Phe Glu 500 505 510 Leu Pro Arg Glu Glu Arg Gly Arg Arg Ala Asp Ala 515 520 2 444 PRT Glycine max 2 Met Gly Met Arg Thr Lys Leu Ser Leu Ala Ile Phe Phe Phe Phe Leu 1 5 10 15 Leu Ala Leu Phe Ser Asn Leu Ala Phe Gly Lys Cys Lys Glu Thr Glu 20 25 30 Val Glu Glu Glu Asp Pro Glu Leu Val Thr Cys Lys His Gln Cys Gln 35 40 45 Gln Gln Gln Gln Tyr Thr Glu Gly Asp Lys Arg Val Cys Leu Gln Ser 50 55 60 Cys Asp Arg Tyr His Arg Met Lys Gln Glu Arg Glu Lys Gln Ile Gln 65 70 75 80 Glu Glu Thr Arg Glu Lys Lys Glu Glu Glu Ser Arg Glu Arg Glu Glu 85 90 95 Glu Gln Gln Glu Gln His Glu Glu Gln Asp Glu Asn Pro Tyr Ile Phe 100 105 110 Glu Glu Asp Lys Asp Phe Glu Thr Arg Val Glu Thr Glu Gly Gly Arg 115 120 125 Ile Arg Val Leu Lys Lys Phe Thr Glu Lys Ser Lys Leu Leu Gln Gly 130 135 140 Ile Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu Ala Ile Leu Glu Ala Arg Ala His Thr Phe 145 150 155 160 Val Ser Pro Arg His Phe Asp Ser Glu Val Val Phe Phe Asn Ile Lys 165 170 175 Gly Arg Ala Val Leu Gly Leu Val Ser Glu Ser Glu Thr Glu Lys Ile 180 185 190 Thr Leu Glu Pro Gly Asp Met Ile His Ile Pro Ala Gly Thr Pro Leu 195 200 205 Tyr Ile Val Asn Arg Asp Glu Asn Asp Lys Leu Phe Leu Ala Met Leu 210 215 220 His Ile Pro Val Ser Val Ser Thr Pro Gly Lys Phe Glu Glu Phe Phe 225 230 235 240 Ala Pro Gly Gly Arg Asp Pro Glu Ser Val Leu Ser Ala Phe Ser Trp 245 250 255 Asn Val Leu Gln Ala Ala Leu Gln Thr Pro Lys Gly Lys Leu Glu Asn 260 265 270 Val Phe Asp Gln Gln Asn Glu Gly Ser Ile Phe Arg Ile Ser Arg Glu 275 280 285 Gln Val Arg Ala Leu Ala Pro Thr Lys Lys Ser Ser Trp Trp Pro Phe 290 295 300 Gly Gly Glu Ser Lys Pro Gln Phe Asn Ile Phe Ser Lys Arg Pro Thr 305 310 315 320 Ile Ser Asn Gly Tyr Gly Arg Leu Thr Glu Val Gly Pro Asp Asp Asp 325 330 335 Glu Lys Ser Trp Leu Gln Arg Leu Asn Leu Met Leu Thr Phe Thr Asn 340 345 350 Ile Thr Gln Arg Ser Met Ser Thr Ile His Tyr Asn Ser His Ala Thr 355 360 365 Lys Ile Ala Leu Val Ile Asp Gly Arg Gly His Leu Gln Ile Ser Cys 370 375 380 Pro His Met Ser Ser Arg Ser Ser His Ser Lys His Asp Lys Ser Ser 385 390 395 400 Pro Ser Tyr His Arg Ile Ser Ser Asp Leu Lys Pro Gly Met Val Phe 405 410 415 Val Val Pro Pro Gly His Pro Phe Val Thr Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Glu 420 425 430 Asn Leu Leu Met Ile Cys Phe Glu Val Asn Ala Arg 435 440 3 489 PRT Glycine max 3 Met Ala Thr Arg Ala Lys Leu Ser Leu Ala Ile Phe Leu Phe Phe Leu 1 5 10 15 Leu Ala Leu Ile Ser Asn Leu Ala Leu Gly Lys Leu Lys Glu Thr Glu 20 25 30 Val Glu Glu Asp Pro Glu Leu Val Thr Cys Lys His Gln Cys Gln Gln 35 40 45 Gln Arg Gln Tyr Thr Glu Ser Asp Lys Arg Thr Cys Leu Gln Gln Cys 50 55 60 Asp Ser Met Lys Gln Glu Arg Glu Lys Gln Val Glu Glu Glu Thr Arg 65 70 75 80 Glu Lys Glu Glu Glu His Gln Glu Gln His Glu Glu Glu Glu Asp Glu 85 90 95 Asn Pro Tyr Val Phe Glu Glu Asp Lys Asp Phe Ser Thr Arg Val Glu 100 105 110 Thr Glu Gly Gly Ser Ile Arg Val Leu Lys Lys Phe Thr Glu Lys Ser 115 120 125 Lys Leu Leu Gln Gly Ile Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu Ala Ile Leu Glu Ala 130 135 140 Arg Ala His Thr Phe Val Ser Pro Arg His Phe Asp Ser Glu Val Val 145 150 155 160 Leu Phe Asn Ile Lys Gly Arg Ala Val Leu Gly Leu Val Arg Glu Ser 165 170 175 Glu Thr Glu Lys Ile Thr Leu Glu Pro Gly Asp Met Ile His Ile Pro 180 185 190 Ala Gly Thr Pro Leu Tyr Ile Val Asn Arg Asp Glu Asn Glu Lys Leu 195 200 205 Leu Leu Ala Met Leu His Ile Pro Val Ser Thr Pro Gly Lys Phe Glu 210 215 220 Glu Phe Phe Gly Pro Gly Gly Arg Asp Pro Glu Ser Val Leu Ser Ala 225 230 235 240 Phe Ser Trp Asn Val Leu Gln Ala Ala Leu Gln Thr Pro Lys Gly Lys 245 250 255 Leu Glu Arg Leu Phe Asn Gln Gln Asn Glu Gly Ser Ile Phe Lys Ile 260 265 270 Ser Arg Glu Arg Val Arg Ala Leu Ala Pro Thr Lys Lys Ser Ser Trp 275 280 285 Trp Pro Phe Gly Gly Glu Ser Lys Ala Gln Phe Asn Ile Phe Ser Lys 290 295 300 Arg Pro Thr Phe Ser Asn Gly Tyr Gly Arg Leu Thr Glu Val Gly Pro 305 310 315 320 Asp Asp Glu Lys Ser Trp Leu Gln Arg Leu Asn Leu Met Leu Thr Phe 325 330 335 Thr Asn Ile Thr Gln Arg Ser Met Ser Thr Ile His Tyr Asn Ser His 340 345 350 Ala Thr Lys Ile Ala Leu Val Met Asp Gly Arg Gly His Leu Gln Ile 355 360 365 Ser Cys Pro His Met Ser Ser Arg Ser Asp Ser Lys His Asp Lys Ser 370 375 380 Ser Pro Ser Tyr His Arg Ile Ser Ala Asp Leu Lys Pro Gly Met Val 385 390 395 400 Phe Val Val Pro Pro Gly His Pro Phe Val Thr Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys 405 410 415 Glu Asn Leu Leu Ile Ile Cys Phe Glu Val Asn Val Arg Asp Asn Lys 420 425 430 Lys Phe Thr Phe Ala Gly Lys Asp Asn Ile Val Ser Ser Leu Asp Asn 435 440 445 Val Ala Lys Glu Leu Ala Phe Asn Tyr Pro Ser Glu Met Val Asn Gly 450 455 460 Val Ser Glu Arg Lys Glu Ser Leu Phe Phe Pro Phe Glu Leu Pro Ser 465 470 475 480 Glu Glu Arg Gly Arg Arg Ala Val Ala 485 4 409 PRT Glycine max 4 Met Ala Thr Arg Ala Lys Leu Ser Leu Ala Ile Phe Leu Phe Phe Leu 1 5 10 15 Leu Ala Leu Ile Ser Asn Leu Ala Leu Gly Lys Leu Lys Glu Thr Glu 20 25 30 Val Glu Glu Asp Pro Glu Leu Val Thr Cys Lys His Gln Cys Gln Gln 35 40 45 Gln Arg Gln Tyr Thr Glu Ser Asp Lys Arg Thr Cys Leu Gln Gln Cys 50 55 60 Asp Ser Met Lys Gln Glu Arg Glu Lys Gln Val Glu Glu Glu Thr Arg 65 70 75 80 Glu Lys Glu Glu Glu His Gln Glu Gln His Glu Glu Glu Glu Asp Glu 85 90 95 Asn Pro Tyr Val Phe Glu Glu Asp Lys Asp Phe Ser Thr Arg Val Glu 100 105 110 Thr Glu Gly Gly Ser Ile Arg Val Leu Lys Lys Phe Thr Glu Lys Ser 115 120 125 Lys Leu Leu Gln Gly Ile Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu Ala Ile Leu Glu Ala 130 135 140 Arg Ala His Thr Phe Val Ser Pro Arg His Phe Asp Ser Glu Val Val 145 150 155 160 Leu Phe Asn Ile Lys Gly Arg Ala Val Leu Gly Leu Val Arg Glu Ser 165 170 175 Glu Thr Glu Lys Ile Thr Leu Glu Pro Gly Asp Met Ile His Ile Pro 180 185 190 Ala Gly Thr Pro Leu Tyr Ile Val Asn Arg Asp Glu Asn Glu Lys Leu 195 200 205 Leu Leu Ala Met Leu His Ile Pro Val Ser Thr Pro Gly Lys Phe Glu 210 215 220 Glu Phe Phe Gly Pro Gly Gly Arg Asp Pro Glu Ser Val Leu Ser Ala 225 230 235 240 Phe Ser Trp Asn Val Leu Gln Ala Ala Leu Gln Thr Pro Lys Gly Lys 245 250 255 Leu Glu Arg Leu Phe Asn Gln Gln Asn Glu Gly Ser Ile Phe Lys Ile 260 265 270 Ser Arg Glu Arg Val Arg Ala Leu Ala Pro Thr Lys Lys Ser Ser Trp 275 280 285 Trp Pro Phe Gly Gly Glu Ser Lys Ala Gln Phe Asn Ile Phe Ser Lys 290 295 300 Arg Pro Thr Phe Ser Asn Gly Tyr Gly Arg Leu Thr Glu Val Gly Pro 305 310 315 320 Asp Asp Glu Lys Ser Trp Leu Gln Arg Leu Asn Leu Met Leu Thr Phe 325 330 335 Thr Asn Ile Thr Gln Arg Ser Met Ser Thr Ile His Tyr Asn Ser His 340 345 350 Ala Thr Lys Ile Ala Leu Val Met Asp Gly Arg Gly His Leu Gln Ile 355 360 365 Ser Cys Pro His Met Ser Ser Arg Ser Asp Ser Lys His Asp Lys Ser 370 375 380 Ser Pro Ser Tyr His Arg Ile Ser Ala Asp Leu Lys Pro Gly Met Val 385 390 395 400 Phe Val Val Pro Pro Gly His Pro Phe 405 5 1924 DNA Glycine max CDS (119)..(1588) 5 tgtaaaacga cggccagtga attgtaatac gactcactat agggcgaatt gggtaccggg 60 ccccccctcg aggtcgacgg tatcgataag cttgattttg ttcctcactg acctcacc 118 atg gcg acc aga gcc aag ctt tct tta gct atc ttc ctt ttc ttt ctt 166 Met Ala Thr Arg Ala Lys Leu Ser Leu Ala Ile Phe Leu Phe Phe Leu 1 5 10 15 tta gcc ttg att tca aac cta gcc ttg ggc aaa ctt aaa gaa acc gag 214 Leu Ala Leu Ile Ser Asn Leu Ala Leu Gly Lys Leu Lys Glu Thr Glu 20 25 30 gtc gaa gaa gat ccc gag ctc gta aca tgc aaa cac cag tgc caa cag 262 Val Glu Glu Asp Pro Glu Leu Val Thr Cys Lys His Gln Cys Gln Gln 35 40 45 caa cgg caa tac act gag agt gac aag cga aca tgc ttg caa caa tgt 310 Gln Arg Gln Tyr Thr Glu Ser Asp Lys Arg Thr Cys Leu Gln Gln Cys 50 55 60 gac agt atg aag caa gag cga gag aaa caa gtc gaa gag gaa act cgc 358 Asp Ser Met Lys Gln Glu Arg Glu Lys Gln Val Glu Glu Glu Thr Arg 65 70 75 80 gag aag gaa gaa gaa cat caa gag cag cat gag gag gag gaa gac gaa 406 Glu Lys Glu Glu Glu His Gln Glu Gln His Glu Glu Glu Glu Asp Glu 85 90 95 aat ccc tac gtt ttt gaa gaa gat aag gat ttt tcg acc aga gtc gaa 454 Asn Pro Tyr Val Phe Glu Glu Asp Lys Asp Phe Ser Thr Arg Val Glu 100 105 110 aca gaa ggt ggc agc att cgg gtt ctc aag aag ttc act gag aaa tcc 502 Thr Glu Gly Gly Ser Ile Arg Val Leu Lys Lys Phe Thr Glu Lys Ser 115 120 125 aag ctt ctt caa ggc att gag aat ttc cgt ttg gcc atc tta gaa gct 550 Lys Leu Leu Gln Gly Ile Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu Ala Ile Leu Glu Ala 130 135 140 aga gca cac acg ttc gtg tcc cca cgc cac ttt gat tcc gag gtt gtc 598 Arg Ala His Thr Phe Val Ser Pro Arg His Phe Asp Ser Glu Val Val 145 150 155 160 ttg ttc aac att aag ggg aga gcc gta ctt ggg ttg gtg agg gaa agt 646 Leu Phe Asn Ile Lys Gly Arg Ala Val Leu Gly Leu Val Arg Glu Ser 165 170 175 gaa aca gaa aaa atc acc cta gaa cct gga gac atg ata cac ata cca 694 Glu Thr Glu Lys Ile Thr Leu Glu Pro Gly Asp Met Ile His Ile Pro 180 185 190 gca ggc aca cca ctg tac atc gtt aac aga gat gag aat gag aag ctc 742 Ala Gly Thr Pro Leu Tyr Ile Val Asn Arg Asp Glu Asn Glu Lys Leu 195 200 205 ctc ctt gcc atg ctc cat ata cct gtc tct act cct gga aaa ttt gag 790 Leu Leu Ala Met Leu His Ile Pro Val Ser Thr Pro Gly Lys Phe Glu 210 215 220 gaa ttt ttc ggg cct gga gga cga gac cca gaa tcg gtc ctc tca gca 838 Glu Phe Phe Gly Pro Gly Gly Arg Asp Pro Glu Ser Val Leu Ser Ala 225 230 235 240 ttc agc tgg aat gtg ctg caa gct gcg ctc caa acc cca aaa gga aag 886 Phe Ser Trp Asn Val Leu Gln Ala Ala Leu Gln Thr Pro Lys Gly Lys 245 250 255 tta gaa agg ctt ttt aat caa cag aac gag gga agt att ttc aaa ata 934 Leu Glu Arg Leu Phe Asn Gln Gln Asn Glu Gly Ser Ile Phe Lys Ile 260 265 270 agc aga gaa cgg gtg cgt gcg ttg gcc ccc acc aag aaa agc tct tgg 982 Ser Arg Glu Arg Val Arg Ala Leu Ala Pro Thr Lys Lys Ser Ser Trp 275 280 285 tgg cca ttc ggc ggc gaa tcc aag gct caa ttc aat att ttc agc aag 1030 Trp Pro Phe Gly Gly Glu Ser Lys Ala Gln Phe Asn Ile Phe Ser Lys 290 295 300 cgt ccc act ttc tcc aac gga tat ggc cgt tta act gaa gtt ggt cct 1078 Arg Pro Thr Phe Ser Asn Gly Tyr Gly Arg Leu Thr Glu Val Gly Pro 305 310 315 320 gat gat gaa aag agt tgg ctt caa aga ctc aac ctc atg ctt acc ttt 1126 Asp Asp Glu Lys Ser Trp Leu Gln Arg Leu Asn Leu Met Leu Thr Phe 325 330 335 acc aac atc acc cag aga tct atg agt act att cac tac aac tca cat 1174 Thr Asn Ile Thr Gln Arg Ser Met Ser Thr Ile His Tyr Asn Ser His 340 345 350 gca acg aag ata gca ctg gtg atg gat ggt aga ggg cat ctt caa ata 1222 Ala Thr Lys Ile Ala Leu Val Met Asp Gly Arg Gly His Leu Gln Ile 355 360 365 tca tgt cca cac atg tca tca agg tca gac tca aag cat gat aag agt 1270 Ser Cys Pro His Met Ser Ser Arg Ser Asp Ser Lys His Asp Lys Ser 370 375 380 agc ccc tca tac cat aga atc agt gcg gac ttg aag cct gga atg gtg 1318 Ser Pro Ser Tyr His Arg Ile Ser Ala Asp Leu Lys Pro Gly Met Val 385 390 395 400 ttt gtt gtc cct cct ggt cat ccc ttc gtc act ata gct tcc aat aaa 1366 Phe Val Val Pro Pro Gly His Pro Phe Val Thr Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys 405 410 415 gag aat ctc ctc ata att tgc ttc gag gtt aac gtt cga gac aac aag 1414 Glu Asn Leu Leu Ile Ile Cys Phe Glu Val Asn Val Arg Asp Asn Lys 420 425 430 aag ttt acg ttt gca ggg aag gac aac att gtg agc tct ctg gac aac 1462 Lys Phe Thr Phe Ala Gly Lys Asp Asn Ile Val Ser Ser Leu Asp Asn 435 440 445 gta gct aag gag ctg gcc ttt aac tat cct tct gag atg gtg aac gga 1510 Val Ala Lys Glu Leu Ala Phe Asn Tyr Pro Ser Glu Met Val Asn Gly 450 455 460 gtc tcc gaa aga aag gag agt ctc ttt ttc ccc ttc gag ttg ccg agc 1558 Val Ser Glu Arg Lys Glu Ser Leu Phe Phe Pro Phe Glu Leu Pro Ser 465 470 475 480 gag gag cgt ggt cgt cgc gct gtt gcg tga gaagcagtgt ggaggtggct 1608 Glu Glu Arg Gly Arg Arg Ala Val Ala 485 490 gataacgggg aatgtattta gctttgagag tctttaaatt ttctgtattt gttgtaatgt 1668 tagtagttcc ttaaattggc cagatggagt ttatgtgttt gtaaatgcag ggatgctaac 1728 ggaataaaat ggccacttgt attgctaaag aaaaaaacca gcccgggccg tcgaccacgc 1788 gtgccctata gtgagtcgta ttacaatcga attcctgcag cccgggggat ccactagttc 1848 tagagcggcc gccaccgcgg tggagctcca gcttttgttc cctttagtga gggttaattt 1908 cgagcttggc gtaatc 1924 6 3718 DNA Glycine max 6 ttgtaaacga cggccagtga attgtaatac gactcactat agggcgaatt gggtaccggg 60 ccccccctcg aggtcgacgg tatcgataag cttgattgta atacgactca ctatagggca 120 cgcgtggtcg acggcccggg ctggtctgag aaactcatta ggcactggaa aattctcaaa 180 ggaaataatg tgagtcagcc aattcaaacc caccatatct ttattaattt cacttttttc 240 tttattttat aatttttagt ctcacagtca cacattttaa caggttatga taacaagggg 300 caaagataag ggtgagaccg ggattataaa gcgtgtcatt cgctctcaaa atcgtgtcat 360 tgtagagagt aaaaacctgg tgagagatat tatcatcaca atttggtcct tctgtttttc 420 taatgcccta tcttccttag attatgtttt caattccact gtcaatgtgt cttgcatcag 480 aatattaatc aattgtgaca ttgagcatgt gattgtgtaa attttcctga taggtttctc 540 actccaatgc cttttgtcat cctctttata ggtaaagaag catataaagc aagggcaagg 600 tcatgaaggg ggcatcttta cagtggaagc cccactgcat gcctccaatg tgcaagttct 660 tgacccagtg acagggtatg tcattgttca gatattgaac tggtgattgc atctccaaac 720 gggataacat cattaacatg tatgaaagta agagttacca acttttactt gtgcagcaag 780 ccttgcaagg ttggagttaa atatcttgaa gatggtacta aagtcagagt gtccagagga 840 ataggaacct cagggtccat agtccctcgt cctgagattt taaagataag aactacccca 900 agacctgcag tccgtaagta tctaacaagc ttaattatgc tttttcatgt atgagttgtt 960 gacaaaacat ggccagagcc aatagagaat cgagaaaaag tgagacggaa aatgaacttg 1020 aattatgaga aaggtgtgtg aaacaaacaa gccaataatg tggcttatat aatatataat 1080 atatagatat agaccagagt gagtaacgaa tcactaacta attacatgtg tatatctacc 1140 taattagatg actcatcaaa caaagcgaac tattgtgata gagactttat ttttcgcaat 1200 taattcaaag atgtactgct tatcttcttt gctacatgtc tgttgacatg cattgttatc 1260 cataaccttg ttattatact tggtgttgag aaaggagagt ctccttgcac tttagagaca 1320 ttctttaaac tgacttgacc ttattgaaaa ttcgagatag caacttagca ccacacctta 1380 aaaagaaaga ttttttagag ggtagattaa ttgttgaata atgttaatca tcaaaggttt 1440 aagatttatt aagtgctttc cattgtctta aaaatcttgc ttctaggact aggatgtgta 1500 ttgttacatg atttcccccc cttggtatca actaaagcat gttggacttg cgctccatat 1560 gcagaaactc aaattaaaaa catcatttgt aatgtatagt aagtgtatat ataacattgt 1620 aagttgtcga tcaaagttat ttggattaat ggatttaagt cttctataat attccattga 1680 gagccagaag ccaggtccaa aggaataagt aactcgcatg aattcattct cttgcttcta 1740 tacagctatt tttccatctt agtgttgcgg gaaactactt cagttctcgc agatgtgcaa 1800 aacttgtagg gatccatgta gttcagtgaa acccatgctt tcttaattga cagagataca 1860 ttaaaacttt ttacagaatt gagaaaccca agccttgtta attctcaaag atacatttaa 1920 acttttttca gaaacgtgct gagtatttta tcctgtttgt tattcatttt tggcagttgg 1980 tcctaaaaat actcctatga atcttgtgct agagaagact tgcaatgcta aaacaggacg 2040 gggcatgcct gaactttaag gagacgttgc cttgttccga ttaggtaatt gctatcgtga 2100 tgaacaaaaa tttggtgtga atttatcccc ttgccctttg ccatgattca attaaagacg 2160 tgtttggaac cacattctaa caccacttta tgatgggtta gacgcaaaat ctagattggg 2220 tagtgtttac acacagttac aaacacattc cttgtttaat gttatcatgc ctaggagttg 2280 aataacttgt aactttacca attagacatt actactagca ttctttttcc tattcaagtt 2340 gatgttatct ccagttagtg atggtcattt cattccataa acttcaattg ttaaaatgag 2400 tgaaaaggga aaaaggaacc cgtttgattg ttatggttct agtgattttt attaattggg 2460 tttgtccatt agtgtcgatt tgagctaaat agtttccccc ccccaaaaga tcagtcttct 2520 cacatgtcat attcatgcgc tggtaccctt ttcatccagt tccaacaaac ttgctgtacg 2580 aagtcaggtt gcatgaaaat agtcaaattt tctttaaggg ggatattata cgtaaataaa 2640 taacgtaacc caaaagtctt acttgttggg taacgtgggt tttggtgttt gatggaccta 2700 gaacactgtt tgttgctctt atatgcttac aaagtaaaaa tggttatcac atttggggaa 2760 aaaatgtagg cccacttatg atatttcgac ctaaatgcaa aatggtttat caattttttt 2820 atacttagta tgataaaact cctttttttt ttccactggc atactatttc tctaagactt 2880 tttaatagtt ccgataattc ttagcttaaa gaaatacgac aaggttagga atattttttt 2940 attatgtgac attatttttt aaatattttg cttcatatga atttatacaa tcattataat 3000 ttgacctttt aaatgacttt taaaaatgat cagacctaaa atttgagtct tctgattgag 3060 atgcaaactt atttcttttt atattttata ttttatactc atttgtttct ctttctatta 3120 tatttctttt ttttcttctc tttatgcaaa aacgtatgac gttgattggt gtctttggca 3180 atctttttat gacgctcaaa agtgaaaata aatattgttc actttcacct cacgctggcc 3240 ttccgctgat ggtggttgta cgcacttatt tgattttttt ttcttccaca tttaatgagg 3300 tgaatcagtt agagaaatat taaaaaaaat aaataaataa aggaagacga ctaatacaat 3360 aaagaatacg aaactcacaa tgaatagacc caattagaac catttatttt ccttacaaat 3420 taaagaaaac gtttttttaa caatatatca cattatcatc tattatattt ttatttatat 3480 tttttataac tttctctatc taggtgtaga ttgacatgag tatacgcacg cacacccagc 3540 tctacttagc agcaattacc cgttttactt gctacttaag agacacgtac attaacactt 3600 gtccttgtgc atgcaattgc caccacattc ctcactccac ccttttcttt atatataaac 3660 aaacacaatg gatcatctca aaccaagagt gagtttgttg ttcctcactg acctcacc 3718 7 4526 DNA Glycine max 7 ttgtaaaacg acggccagtg aattgtaata cgactcacta tagggcgaat tgggtaccgg 60 gccccccctc gaggtcgacg gtatcgataa gcttgattac tatagggcac gcgtggtcga 120 cggcccgggc tggtactttt gactccctaa ttgacaacta ctgcattgta tcgatattaa 180 tatggaattt ggaatcatgg tccatgcttc atgtattgtg tacctcatat tcaacagcta 240 gtgaacacaa aatcttacat acttttgtat ttctatcagt ttataccttc ccaaataaat 300 ggcttatatt gcattgagtt acatattatt gtttagttgg attgtaattt acgagtagtt 360 tgtcacgact gaagaaatta ataaggtata agacacgtcc tgctcccgcg aaattcattt 420 tctgtttatt ctctgtctct gtctctattc aattcaacct tccatttgtt ttcgccagca 480 tccagatttg tgctttctct atcatttcat ttaattaatg tgatgtatgt atggctgaat 540 aaaagatgga ttcctctttt ttgtggggtg gaagcttaat ctatggggct agataaaaaa 600 attcatctgt ttgttgcaca gaataaaata taaattaata attaattaaa cttcaaacat 660 ggacagggca cctccaagtt attttaaaac cgaccatggc catttttgct ttctgttggt 720 gttcttggct cagcttttgt aattttagac tgcagaaaca tcctgtatgg gttggaaagc 780 agctgagaaa ctcattaggc gctggaaaat tctaagaggg gataatgtat gtgagtcaat 840 tcaaacccac catatgtttg tctctgtgct ctttattaat ttcacttttt tattttataa 900 ttttagtctc acagtcacag agtcacttat gtattcatct aacaggttat gataacaagg 960 ggcaaagata agggtgagac cgggattata aagcgtgtca tttgctctca aaatcgtgtc 1020 attgtagagg gtaaaaatct ggtgagatat tataatcact atttggtcct tctgtttttc 1080 taatgcccta tcttctgtag cttttgtttt caattccact gtcagtgtgt cttgcatcag 1140 aatattaatc ggttgtcagt gacattgagc atttaattgt gtaaattttc ctgttagatt 1200 tctcactcca atgccttttg ccgtcctctt tataggtaaa gaagcatatc aagcaagggc 1260 aaggtcataa agggggaatc tttacagtgg aagccccact gcatgcctcc aatgtgcaag 1320 ttcttgaccc agtgacaggg tatgtacatg ttagatattg aactggtgat tgcttctcca 1380 aatgggataa catgtatgta agtaagagta acctactttt acttgtgcag caagccttgc 1440 aaggttagag ttaaaatatc ttgaagatgg tactaaagtc agagtgtcca gaggaatagg 1500 agcatcaggg ttcatagtcc ctcgtcccaa gatcttaaag ataagaacta ccccaagacc 1560 tacagtccgt aagtatctaa caagcttatg ttttttcctt gtatgagttg ttgataaaac 1620 atggccagag ccaatagaga attgagaaaa ggtgagaaac agaaaatgaa cttgaattat 1680 gagaaaggtg tgggaaacaa acaagccaat aatgtggctt atataatata tagatataga 1740 ctagagtgag taacgaatca ctaactaatt acatgtgcat atctacctaa ttagatgatt 1800 cgtcaaacga agcaaagtat tgtgatagat agttgatttt tctcaaataa ttctaagatg 1860 taatacttat attctttgct acatgtctgt tgacatacat tgttatccat aaccttgtta 1920 ttatacttgg tgttaaaaaa ggagagtctc cttgcacttt agagacattc tttaaactga 1980 cttgacctta ttgaaataca taattctagt taccaactta gcaccacacc ataaaaggaa 2040 agatttttaa acggtagatt gattgttgaa taatgttaat catcaaaggt ttaagattta 2100 ttaagtgctt tccattgtct taaaatattg cttctaggac taggatgtgt atattggtta 2160 catgatttcc ccgccttcgt atcaacttaa gcatgttgga cttgcaccca tatgcagaaa 2220 ctcaaataaa aaacttcatt tgtaaggtat aataagtgta tatataacat tgtaagttgt 2280 caatcagagt aatttggatt gatggatatt taagtcttct ataatatttc atttagagcc 2340 agaagccagg ttcaaaggaa taggtaattc acatgaattc attctcttgt ttctatacag 2400 ttattatttt ttccatctta gtgttgcagg aaactacctc agttgttgta gatgtgcaaa 2460 acttgtatgg atatatatac tgttcagtgt tgggaaaccc atgctttctt aattcacaga 2520 gatacattta aacttttttt agaaacttgc ttagtatctt atcctgttat tcatttttgg 2580 cagttggtcc taaagatact cctatgaatc ttgtgctaga gaagacttac gatgctaaaa 2640 caggacgggg catgcctgaa ctttaaggag acgttgccct gttccacttc caattaggta 2700 actgctatcg tgatgaacaa aaatttggtg tgagtttatc accttgtcct ttgccatgat 2760 tcaattaaaa gcgtgtttgg actttggaac ctcattctaa caccacccta tgatgggtta 2820 gacgcaaaat ctagactggg tagtgtttaa cgtgtatctg tgtgaacaca gttacaaacg 2880 cattccatgt ttaatgctac catgcctagg agttgaatca tttgtaactt taccaattta 2940 gtcattacta ctagcattct tttccctatt caagttgatg ttagctccag ttagggatgg 3000 tcatttcact ccataaactt taattgttag gtgagtggaa gaggaacccg tttgattgtt 3060 atggttctag ttctagtgat ttttattaat tgggttcgac catattagtg tttgatttga 3120 gctatagata gttttttccc caaaagatca gttttctcac atgtcagatt catgggttgg 3180 tactcttttc atccagttcc aacaaacttg ctgttcgaac tacgaagtca gtcttactta 3240 ttgggtaaca tgtgggtttt ggtgtttaat ggatctagaa tactgtttgt agctaaacct 3300 atcttatcat atagggccta aaaagtaaaa ttggttatta catttggaaa aaaagaaata 3360 atctaggccc actggcacac tgaaaaacgt tttcaatgaa taatttaata gttttttttt 3420 tataaaaaaa ttttaataaa aaataatgga gtttttaaaa atattacaac aatctgtttc 3480 tctaaggttt tttaatagtt cagataattc atagcttaga gcaatacgac atggttagga 3540 agcataaaaa aaatatacga catggttagg aatttttttt tagtatgtct gacataattt 3600 tttaaatgtt ttggcttcat atgaatttaa cagtgcgtca tatgaactta cacactcatt 3660 atatttttta accttttaaa tgatttttaa aaaatatgac agatgcaatc ttattctcac 3720 tttttatact ttcactactg cttcatatga cctaaagtca gagaaatatt ttaaaaagat 3780 aaatacgata aagaatacga tgagaaagaa acctcacaca atgaatagac caaattagac 3840 ctatttattt tccttagaaa taaagaaaat aattattttt tattttttca cattacattt 3900 atatttttct atcactttct ctatttaggt attgattgac atatgagtgt acatgaactt 3960 tttttaaaaa aaaagcgtaa atattaatta tattcatgca tttgttttct gtctttcatt 4020 ttctatttaa tcttacgtta tcaataatct attattaaat tttatagttg atgatgaata 4080 tataagagat ataaataaaa aaataattaa ttttataata aaaattaaaa aataattaat 4140 tattttgaga taaatttttt ttaagagaac aattataaac ggagagtatt atatttagtt 4200 ttatgtgtac cgggtacgtg tctactaaca tggtgtctct ccatcatttt cgtaggaaaa 4260 aacattatag gagtatgaaa aaagcaaaag ttttgtctgt ttatggtttt gtatataccc 4320 agctctactt ggcagcaatt acccgtcttg cttgctactt acgagacacg tacattaaca 4380 cttgtcctag ctagtgcatg caattgccac cccattcctc actcctccct tttccttctc 4440 tttatattta tatatataaa taaacaaaca caatgcatca tctcaaagaa attaagagag 4500 tttttttgtt cctcactgac caagcc 4526 8 23 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 8 tgtaaaacga cggccagtga att 23 9 23 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 9 gattacgcca agctcgaaat taa 23 10 27 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 10 atggcgacca gagccaagct ttcttta 27 11 27 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 11 cgcaacagcg cgacgaccac gctcgct 27 12 27 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 12 atggcgacca gagccaagct ttcttta 27 13 27 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 13 gaagggatga ccaggaggga caacaaa 27 14 23 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 14 ttgtaaacga cggccagtga att 23 15 23 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Oligonucleotide used to amplify a region of the SBP2 cDNA or 5′ regulatory region. 15 ggtgaggtca gtgaggaaca aca 23 

1. A modified plant sucrose binding protein wherein the modified sucrose binding protein has a modified amino acid sequence compared to a corresponding wild-type sucrose binding protein, and wherein expression of the modified sucrose binding protein in a yeast assay system confers enhanced sucrose compared to the corresponding wild-type sucrose binding protein.
 2. A modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim 1 wherein the modified sucrose binding protein enhances sucrose uptake in the yeast assay system by at least 10% compared to the wild-type sucrose binding protein.
 3. A modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim 1 wherein the modified sucrose binding protein enhances sucrose uptake in the yeast assay system by at least 25% compared to the wild-type sucrose binding protein.
 4. A modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim 1 wherein the modified amino acid sequence comprises a C-terminal truncation compared to the wild-type sucrose binding protein.
 5. A modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim 4 wherein the C-terminal truncation results in removal of between 10 and 100 amino acids.
 6. A modified plant sucrose binding protein, wherein the corresponding wild-type sucrose binding protein is selected from the group consisting of SBP1 and SBP2.
 7. A modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim 6 wherein the protein has an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of Seq. I.D. Nos. 2 and
 4. 8. A nucleic acid molecule encoding a modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim
 1. 9. A vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule according to claim
 8. 10. A transgenic plant expressing a modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim
 1. 11. A nucleic acid molecule encoding a modified sucrose binding protein according to claim
 6. 12. A transgenic plant expressing a modified plant sucrose binding protein according to claim
 6. 13. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a plant sucrose binding protein, wherein the protein comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) the amino acid sequence set forth in Seq. I.D. No. 3; (b) the amino acid sequence set forth in Seq. I.D. No. 4; (c) amino acid sequences having at least 70% sequence identity with the amino acid sequence of (a) or (b); and (d) amino acid sequences having at least 90% sequence identity with the amino acid sequence of (a) or (b).
 14. A recombinant expression cassette comprising a promoter sequence operably linked to a nucleic acid molecule according to claim
 13. 15. A transgenic plant comprising a recombinant expression cassette according to claim
 14. 16. A recombinant nucleic acid molecule comprising a promoter sequence operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence, wherein the promoter sequence comprises a SBP1 or SBP2 promoter.
 17. A recombinant nucleic acid molecule according to claim 16 wherein the promoter sequence comprises at least 25 consecutive nucleotides of a sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) Seq. I.D. No. 7; and (b) Seq. I.D. No.
 8. 18. A recombinant nucleic acid molecule according to claim 17 wherein the nucleic acid sequence encodes a plant sucrose binding protein.
 19. A transgenic plant comprising a recombinant nucleic acid molecule according to claim
 17. 20. A transgenic plant comprising a recombinant nucleic acid molecule according to claim
 18. 